Award Show Board Game

ABSTRACT

A board game is described in which players take on the role of actors who compete to get to an award show where their talents will be recognized. Along the way, they may encounter various situations that help or interfere with their successful attainment of their goal.

FIELD

The instant application relates to board games.

BACKGROUND

Board games have been played throughout history, providing entertainmentfor one or more players in a variety of formats.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

The instant application describes a board game allowing players to roleplay being performers trying to win various industry awards. There aretwo levels. In the first level, players have game pieces shaped likecars and cruise along the board, picking up cards that determine howsuccessful they are in their careers. When they finish the first level,they get to move on to the second level, choosing nicer cars, obtainingbetter roles, and having more opportunities. A player wins by having theplayer's name card selected from a set of name cards of three nomineesfor the award.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of an awards board game will now be describedwith reference to drawings of certain embodiments, which are intended toillustrate and not to limit the instant application:

FIG. 1 is a representation of a board on which an award show game may beplayed.

FIG. 2 is an example of a list of possible sayings on various cards thatmay be selected during level 1 when playing an award show game.

FIG. 3 is an example of a list of possible sayings on various cards thatmay be selected during level 2 when playing an award show game.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter of the present invention is described withspecificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, thedescription itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent.Rather, the inventors have contemplated that the claimed subject mattermight also be embodied in other ways, to include different steps orcombinations of steps similar to the ones described in this document, inconjunction with other present or future technologies. Moreover,although the terms “step” and/or “block” may be used herein to connotedifferent elements of methods employed, the terms should not beinterpreted as implying any particular order among or between varioussteps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individualsteps is explicitly described.

The instant application describes a board game allowing players to roleplay trying to win an industry award. Examples of such awards include,but are not limited to, The Golden Globe Awards®, an Oscar® from theAcademy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences®, a Grammy®, a CMA®, andthe Genie Award®. Other embodiments may include other real or imaginaryawards.

In the embodiment described herein, the awards will be based on actingawards, specifically the Golden Globe® and the Oscar®. These examplesare not meant to be limiting, but rather to highlight one possiblevariation of an award show game.

The following is an example set of rules for an award show game.

And The Oscar Goes to Whom? Object:

Opponents cruise around the board in different models of cars trying toendure the bumpy rides of their acting careers, ultimately hoping to getnominated and then to go on to win the Oscar®.

How The Game is Played:

The game has two different levels which they must get through beforeeventually arriving at Oscar® Night.

Level 1

A game starts with everyone rolling a die and a player with the lowestroll goes first, choosing a car from a “Used Up Cars” car lot andproceeding around the board. A next player may follow in a similarmanner.

Players cruise around in not-so-expensive cars while starting theiracting careers. They may have to deal with bad auditions and movies thatbomb at the box office. The results of auditions and box office resultsare determined by cards selected from a shuffled deck. This level ismore challenging than the next level due to the players rarely landinggood roles and receiving good reviews. However, by the end of thislevel, players will be able to land a role which is noteworthy and makethem eligible for better roles.

Level 2

After making it past the first level, players will be able to enjoy allthe benefits of being a successful actor/actress. Before starting thislevel, players will have a chance to trade in their cars from level 1for nicer cars. Whoever advances to this level first gets first pick atthe cars; the next person gets next pick, and so on. Level 2 is wherethey will start landing better roles and big auditions. They may have achance to shop on Rodeo Drive and win “bonus chips.” They may also bethe lucky player to win the “Golden Globe Card”.

Bonus Chips

Players can only start taking advantage of “Bonus Chips” (BCs) once theyhave reached Level 2. BCs are important because they can help land you anomination on Oscar® night. These are extra points earned throughoutLevel 2 by landing leading roles, cover stories and big auditions. Theplayer with the highest BCs at the end of Level 2 will automatically winan Oscar® nomination. See Special Rules later.

Golden Globe Card

The player who picks this card will try to hold on to this card untilOscar® Night to help earn them a nomination. At any time during thegame, if another player earns 15 points or more they have the option oftrading in all or some of their points for the “Golden Globe Card”(GGC). The player who is holding the GGC has to release the card uponrequest unless they have more BCs than the opposing player at that time.Otherwise, they will just continue holding onto the card until any otherplayer is able to trade in their points. For example, if the personholding the GGC has 15 points and the opposing player has 16 BCs, thenthe opposing player will have to trade in all of their BCs in order toretrieve the GGC. If the opposing player had only 15 BCs then they wouldnot have been able to retrieve the card. You need to have at least onemore “BC” than the current GGC holder. You will only have to trade inthe amount of BCs that it takes to actually retrieve the GGC. In anotherexample: If the GGC holder has 18 BCs and the opposing player has 20,then the opposing player will only have to trade in 19 BCs. It may be totheir advantage to wait until the end of level 2, after they have earnedall of their BCs, before trying to retrieve the GGC.

The Limo

The first player to reach Oscar® Night will be the only one to obtainthe Limo. This is important because the player with the Limo willreceive automatic nomination, unlike the player with the GGC.

How the Game Is Won 4 or More Player Rules:

Only three people can be nominated: The Limo holder, GGC holder and thehighest Bonus Chips holder. Once all players have made their way to theKodak Theatre and placed their cars in the Oscar® seating area, BonusChips will then be added and exchange of the GGC, if necessary, willtake place. The remaining players will leave their cars in the initialseating at the Kodak Theatre while the nominees advance to the nomineesection in hopes of winning the Oscar®. The nominees then go on toselect one person from the Oscar® seating area to act as “Announcer.”The person selected as Announcer will write down all the nominees' nameson individual pieces of paper and then place each of the names intoseparate Oscar® envelopes. They will then be placed inside of theShuffler, which will then be started. Once the cards have been shuffledthe Announcer will push the button and one card will shoot out. TheAnnouncer then opens the envelope and reads the card as followed: “TheOscar® for best Actor/or Actress for best leading role goes to” . . .and reads the name that is written on the paper.

3 or More Player Rules:

This will be played the same as 4 or more players except only two peoplewill be nominated. The Limo holder will still have automatic nominationand the GGC will be treated the same. The one who is not nominated willautomatically be the Announcer.

Special Rules Bonus Chips Ties:

If there are times when there are ties due to “Bonus Chips”, playerswill have to roll the die to see who will go on to be nominated. The onewith the highest roll will win. For instance, after everyone is seatedand BCs are being added, players with the same amount of BCs can competefor the GGC or to see who has the highest BCs by the roll of the die.Only one person at a time will be able to compete for the GGC.

If the GGC has been released at the end of the game, the person who heldit will be treated as if she never held it. In a four-or-more-playergame, the player will have to count the BCs in the same way as the otherplayers for possible nomination. In a three-player game, the player willbecome the announcer.

If the GGC is not picked, the two players with the highest number of BCswill be nominated. The Limo holder rules will still apply.

In another embodiment, rather than players moving pieces along paths ona game board, the game board may be electronic, and pieces may be movedautomatically by the board. In another embodiment, rather than rollingone or more dice, the game board may include a pseudorandom numbergenerator to provide numbers to move pieces.

In yet another embodiment, the game may be represented in a computerprogram, providing a computer game operating under similar goals as theexamples herein described. One skilled in the art will realize that manyvariations of embodiments are possible.

While the detailed description above has been expressed in terms ofspecific examples, those skilled in the art will appreciate that manyother configurations could be used. Accordingly, it will be appreciatedthat various equivalent modifications of the above-described embodimentsmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

The foregoing description of various embodiments of the invention hasbeen presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the preciseform disclosed. It is intended that the scope of the invention belimited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claimsappended hereto. The above specification, examples and data provide acomplete description of the manufacture and use of the invention. Sincemany embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claimshereinafter appended.

What is claimed is:
 1. A board game, comprising: a playing surface, theplaying surface comprising: a first level, the first level having aplurality of squares indicating a player's position, a plurality of thesquares indicating a chance to draw a card to obtain points; a secondlevel, the second level having a plurality of squares indicating aplayer's position, a plurality of the squares indicating a chance todraw a card to obtain points; an area representing a first car lot; anarea representing a second car lot; a image portraying streets of acity; a plurality of images representing various landmarks of the city;at least one location for placing cards to be drawn during gameplay; andan area representing a location where an award ceremony may beperformed; game pieces representing cars; game pieces representing awardstatuettes; and cards with instructions affecting game play.
 2. A methodfor playing a board game with a plurality of players, comprising:selecting a playing first piece representing a first car from a used carlot; rolling the die and moving along a first level on a game board,moving a number of squares based on the number indicated by the die;landing on a square indicating a card is to be drawn; drawing a card,the card indicating that a player perform an action selected from agroup comprising miss a turn, move to a nearest square with a particularmarking, move ahead a number of spaces, and move backwards a number ofspaces; upon reaching a square on the game board indicating thebeginning of a second level: exchanging the first piece for a secondpiece representing a second car; rolling the die and moving along a pathon a game board, moving a number of squares based on the numberindicated by the die; landing on a square indicating a card is to bedrawn; drawing a card, the card indicating that a player perform anaction selected from a group comprising collecting one or more bonuschips, miss a turn, move to a nearest square with a particular marking,move ahead a number of spaces, move backwards a number of spaces, andwin an award; upon reaching a square on the game board indicating theend of the second level: obtaining game piece representing a car to goto an award show; and determining a winning player based upon a reviewof numbers of bonus chips, awards won, and order finished compared withother players.
 3. A method for playing an electronic board game with aplurality of players, comprising: selecting a playing first piecerepresenting a first car from a used car lot; obtaining a number from anelectronic pseudorandom number generator, the board game electronicallymoving a player's piece a number of squares indicated by the number;landing on a square indicating a card is to be drawn; drawing a card,the card indicating that a player perform an action selected from agroup comprising miss a turn, move to a nearest square with a particularmarking, move ahead a number of spaces, and move backwards a number ofspaces; upon reaching a square on the game board indicating thebeginning of a second level: exchanging the first piece for a secondpiece representing a second car; obtaining a number from an electronicpseudorandom number generator, the board game electronically moving aplayer's piece a number of squares indicated by the number; landing on asquare indicating a card is to be drawn; drawing a card, the cardindicating that a player perform an action selected from a groupcomprising collecting one or more bonus chips, miss a turn, move to anearest square with a particular marking, move ahead a number of spaces,move backwards a number of spaces, and win an award; upon reaching asquare on the game board indicating the end of the second level:obtaining game piece representing a car to go to an award show; anddetermining a winning player based upon a review of numbers of bonuschips, awards won, and order finished compared with other players.